Corona outbreak: Pharma firms in Baddi ramp up hand sanitiser production amid high demand

Earlier, around 5 lakh sanitisers were manufactured per day, but now the production has gone up to 15 lakh per day, says firm owners

With the demand of hand sanitisers going up, the pharmaceutical companies in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh have increased their production amid reports of its non-availability in the market, as people have started buying them in the wake of coronavirus.

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There are around 20 pharmaceutical companies in Baddi, which manufacture hand sanitisers. The companies are ramping up their production to cater to the demand of sanitisers, not only in the state but nationwide that can help people take precautionary measures.

Earlier, around 5 lakh sanitisers were manufactured per day, but now the production has gone up to 15 lakh per day. The maximum demand is of 50 ml sanitiser bottle. The companies are manufacturing hand sanitiser bottles ranging from 30ml to 500ml.

The tricity is running out of hand sanitisers after the government has declared them as essential commodity, mainly due to hoarding by people as well as shopkeepers who are selling it at five times higher price.

Managing director of Martin and Brown Pharmaceutical company in Baddi Vineet Maini said, “Earlier, our company was not manufacturing hand sanitisers, but now looking at the demand, we have started its production. We are manufacturing around 30,000 sanitiser bottles every day.”

Abhay Jain, managing director of another pharmaceutical company said that their production has gone up from 25,000 to 50,000. However, he claims to not have increased the price.

While the production has increased, a chemist in Sector 67, Mohali said that there is an acute shortage of hand sanitisers manufactured by pharma giants. People don’t prefer to buy hand sanitisers manufactured by local companies which is available in abundance, said Kamal Dhamija.

“We are unable to meet the demand of 50,000 bottles per day due to non-availability of material such as bottles and pumps,” said Ashwani Singla, owner of curetech skin care in Baddi.

Vinay Jain, general secretary of Chandigarh Chemist Association said people had started hoarding hand sanitisers amid coronavirus threat but now since the companies have increased their production, there is no shortage of the product.